


For The World Lost That Day

by ExcalibursRevenge



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-11
Updated: 2016-06-27
Packaged: 2018-06-07 19:17:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6820777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ExcalibursRevenge/pseuds/ExcalibursRevenge
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set a few weeks after the events of Civil War, Steve has released Sam, Wanda, Scott and Clint and they now reside in T'Challa's Black Panther hide out.<br/>A new threat is on the scene and Steve is trying to protect civilians while remaining under cover. He ends up becoming entangled with a whole new problem.. He might have finally found a way to cure Bucky, but it all relies on tech from the enemy. He desperately wants to contact Tony and get him back on his side. Now he has that to deal with a threat on a civilians life that causes them to bring her to T'Challa's hide out, risking everything it all for a look that stole his heart.</p>
<p>Mature rating for later scenes</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

 

The first time Steve seen her, it had been while on recon.

Two days ago they had received a tip-off via a scrambled email, only it had been sent directly to Steve's email inbox which set off no number of alarms inside the compound when he mentioned it in passing to T'Challa. He was infuriated that someone had managed to email Steve directly and demanded to see the email himself. The whole thing had turned into a huge meeting of everyone staring at one of the many thousands of unopened emails.

"Steve..." Clint seemed unable to keep the grin off his face "I have to ask, why are there so many uh, emails asking if you would to enlarge your.. gentleman area."

Sam almost wet himself laughing, clapping Clint on the back who was laughing just as hard. Steve rolled his shoulders uncomfortably. The topic had divulged quickly to Steve's junk emails he could never bring himself to remove or block. If he didn't have those it'd be an empty space, like any bookshelves without books. Not that he'd ever read the emails.

"Tony said the email was to be used for anything important. I like to read the news on those.. busfeed and ccn"

"You read buzzfeed?" Wanda raised an eyebrow "The more you know"

"Some of us were asleep for almost 70 years. It fills me in on things. I don't know how those other things got there" He admitted.

Tony had tried to explain the concept of an email address and an inbox, how it worked like an automatic postal system, only there was no paper waste, it could be deleted and not clog up a landfill site. But Tony, being Tony, got carried away and started going into the logistics of how helpful they were to everyday life and Steve let him go on, not really understanding if it was important to know.

"If we're done nosing at Steve Rogers' personal emails" T'Challa sounded exasperated and moved to open the new one.

The email address was a random string of letters and numbers and while T'Challa pulled up tracking software they could all read the email, it showed dots and arrows that conjoined in strange ways showing where the email had bounced to and from before getting to Steve.

It contained the name, the words **Steve. Alone.** and map of a small town in some place called Cornwall. T'Challa pulled up information on Cornwall and Steve could see the map of England

"Oh that's what the bit is.. I always thought it looked a bit like a dog" He nodded his head, they had never really learnt much about England as a kid and every time he'd seen it on a map he could only ever see a dog. Clint and Sam looked at him as T'Challa focused in on the town marked on the map, their faces were full of confusion.

Eventually after much debating, much to Steve's dislike, he wanted to go in and find out who had sent the email. The only time the debate stopped is when the search finished, blinking lazily over the Avengers Compound.

T'Challa met Steve's gaze and sighed

"If it turns out to be a trap, I cannot aid you. Not a second time." T'Challa sat down in a chair and stared at the screen.

 Now he was leaning against a wall in his civilian gear with his trademark cap pulled low over his forehead touching the large sunglasses. The small town centre they were stood in was crowded and loud.  She'd walked past talking to someone next to her, her hair wildly dancing in the brisk wind that had threatened to take Steve's cap more than once. He couldn't help but admire her, even more when the sun appeared from behind a cloud, her hair was brown but the coppery tints hinted that been dyed recently but she had disappeared around a corner before he could become anymore distracted.

"Earth to Steve" Sam's voice was distant in his earpiece, he knew he was supposed to be concentrating on their surroundings, there could be any number of threats waiting to take them out which would endanger the people around them

"Someone's caught Steve's eye" Hawkeye taunted, his position was inside a shop selling make-up and he was browsing it, while keeping an eye out. "She's cute, give you that."

Of course, keen eyed Clint had seen, recently he seemed to be urging Steve towards dating again and had tried to offer him a myriad of suggestions.

"It's all fair game now" Sam sounded a little disappointed, he was sat at a cafe table opposite, sipping at his drink and Steve sighed.

"Sharon and I.." Steve began uselessly, they all knew. How could they not? Sharon had broken it off with him quickly, she felt awkward, having found a diary of Peggy's detailing how her aunt had never quite got over him. He knew it would happen sooner or later, that she'd find something that would make her uncomfortable. He'd never been sure if his feeling for her were because she reminded him of Peggy or for her.

"Can we concentrate on the mission?" Wanda's voice was amused, but she had a point. They were here to collect information from one of their contacts, the only problem was that they wanted to talk to Steve, and Steve alone. Not that Steve couldn't fend for himself if it were an attack but they'd need someone to protect the people.

Stark had to be crazy, arranging a meeting here of all places. He'd known right away it wasn't Nat, she would be more direct and she was currently in hiding somewhere in the world, she wouldn't say where. Why the tail end of England of all the places. Part of him thought it made sense, after everything  that had happened in Bucharest and Leipzig, it would be one of the last places they'd be looking. It helped that there were daily reported sighting from all over the world, scattering Ross' forces far and wide.

A two tone whistle sounded, the signal they said to listen for and Steve pushed himself off from the wall he'd been leaning against. He tried slouching his posture and stuffing his hands in his pockets, the way Sam had tried to show him a thousand times. It didn't feel natural, even more so when Steve jutted his head forward. The last thing they needed was for any one of them to be recognized even Wanda had donned a blonde wig and was now walking beside Steve with her head held high. Her normal clothes replaced by a woollen grey coat with the collar turned up against the wind

"This is dangerous" She reminded him, flicking the hair of her wig back over her shoulders "It could be a trap."

"Oh, like we have any enemies" Steve gave a small ironic smile to Wanda. She didn't look amused and made a sigh of contempt  "Sam do me a favour, get a tracker out"

Steve was scanning the crowd that was forming around them. For such a small town centre it was crowded and children screamed in delight as they ran past with Iron Man balloons. He was secretly hoping to catch a glimpse Tony himself, with his dumb blue cap and obvious facial hair but his eyes fell on her again as she came out a shop. He scolded himself again for not focusing

"His name is Redwing!" Sam was indignant about the tracker being called Redwing.

"I'm sorry, can Redwing track-"

"He's on it Steve" Sam sounded proud down in his ear.

Wanda took a turn right, veering away from Steve and stood leaning against a corner and began rummaging through her purse, trying to look natural. Steve's eyes were trailing the girls head as it bobbed through the crowd

"Rogers" The voice came from his left, startling him as an arm slung itself across his shoulders and Steve tensed from the unfamiliar contact. He didn't recognize the voice and instantly he felt dread. Would Tony sent someone in his steed? Had he been captured? While the arm slung around his shoulders was  supposed to be casual and friendly and give off the air of old friends it made Steve want to pin the guy to the wall and demand answers. He couldn't help thinking he had a death wish.

"Oh don't worry, I know you broke our little promise. I'm sure there's a few of your friends around here somewhere, waiting for me to try and break your neck" The man laughed and tightened his arm around Steve's neck almost as a threat "I'm not that stupid or desperate for my own death."

Steve shrugged the man's arm off and halted, turning to face the stranger. He was slightly shorter than Steve, stubble covered his chin and brown hair curled at his ears from under his red cap. He was dressed similarly to Steve, Sam and Clint, with his grey hoodie and dark jeans, enough to blend in with the crowd if needed. Although the red cap might give him away Steve thought. If it hadn't been for the voice he might've thought it was Bucky and maybe that's what the guy wanted. Steve knew Bucky was still under at T'Challa's secret base

"Got eyes on him" Clint voice was hard in his ear, he had somehow moved from the shop he had been in and was positioned behind the guy facing Steve on the roof within seconds of the situation beginning. He had always wondered how Clint moved so quickly but Clint had always laughed when he asked and clapped him on the shoulder.

From here Steve could just make out the arrow, its tip rounded to knock out an opponent, Clint having drawn it back and holding it steady.

"You might wanna tell Mr Hawkeye that he's not the only one with eyes" He removed his glasses, revealing dark eyes, and pointed just over his left shoulder where a black figure was pointing a gun at Clint "It could be a game of who can shoot faster but I am not in the mood for mass bloodshed, I'm Carver. And my tip-"

He moved his hand to the pocket in his jeans and Steve quickly grabbed the guys wrist, he couldn't risk him pulling a gun, or anything in front of these people. He already had guns trained on Clint, anything could become a signal to fire. The whole time Carver spoke Steve tried to place an accent the way Nat had taught him briefly, where he'd come from but the dictations and inflections were all over the place.

"Sir, please" He laughed again, an annoying throaty chuckle that ended on a higher pitch "You're free to feel me up for weapons, but I can assure you I am unarmed"

Steve let go, crossing his arms over his chest and Carver pulled a thin white envelope out. Behind him the gun man had stood down, his gun not trained at Clint's head anymore. He recognized the writing almost immediately, he had to look away at first, and then stared hard again at Carver.

"Courtesy of  his Highness Tony Stark." Carver handed it over with a small grin on his face, and Steve held the envelope,  crushing it slightly, in his hand as he stared at Carver who had slowly began backing away with the same grin on his face he did a small taunting wave. Stark hired or not, the guy seemed unhinged slightly. He stuffed the envelope inside his jacket, watching Carver go.

"Tracking him" Sam's voice was urgent and Steve could hear the chair clatter in the background and the shocked voices of customers "Steve follow him"

Steve started walking after him, trying to keep the identifying red cap in his line of sight. He'd almost caught up with Carver, reaching his arm out to grab and restrain him. Carver had held his hands up using both his index fingers to point to his left and right. To the left he could see Wanda, waiting for any signal to use her powers to restrain him, with a gun pointing at Wanda not that she had noticed and to his right.. something that made him freeze and Carver was grinning widely.

It was her, and she was completely oblivious to the man behind her, pointing a gun at her spine as she was animatedly spoke to someone. No, no this couldn't happen. How did they..

"Oh, we noticed." Carver leaned forward and pat Steve affectionately on the cheek "We don't want to be followed." Carver took the chance and darted away into the crowd

"Steve-" Wanda's voice was desperate, she'd turn to face her assailant her hands twitching by her sides and sparking red.

"Wanda no, collateral damage" Was all he could manage to say as he stared at the man behind her, and then he was gone. Steve clenched his fists, it was all he could do to stop himself from punching something as he ripped the sunglasses off his face and turned back to face the girl just as she looked up. Her assailant had also disappeared, though she hadn't noticed anything.

She caught him staring and her round face shifted from interest to confusion and then settled onto alarm, he knew then it was time to leave. She knew who he was, but just as he was about to call for the team to scatter she smiled lightly and did a small wave, he tried to ignore his heart contracting as she turned and walked away with who she had been talking with.

A small light hand touched his arm, and Steve didn't need to look to know Wanda had seen everything that had transpired in the last few seconds.

"It's time to go."

 

2 hours later.

 

Steve had been sat staring at the letter from Stark for 20 minutes. He hadn't been able to bring himself to remove it from his jacket that was on a hook for the first 40 minutes. What would it say? Would it be what he wanted to hear? He'd flown all that way to meet this.. Carver, this delusional man.. was that the Tony he remembered? Sure the world saw them as dangerous criminals, but not Tony, surely he wouldn't.

The same questions had been floating around his head, over and over again. There was a soft knock at the door and Sam poked his head around.

"T'Challa wants to speak with us about today." Sam pulled something out his pocket as he walked in the room, and placed it atop the letter from Tony. "I also found you a little something-something"

He grinned before clapping Steve on the shoulder and leaving the room with slightly more pep in his step. T'Challa... he probably wanted to know what the tip was. He rubbed his face and looked down at what Sam had put down. A piece of paper with a name on it.

Sylvia Elser.

He rolled his eyes, trust Sam to stalk the girl down and he didn't doubt he had more information that just her name. He put the piece of paper in his pocket, picked up the letter and left the room, heading to the meeting room, to see T'Challa. With his long strides it wasn't long before he caught up with Sam and silently walked beside him as Sam's grin grew wider.

"I think I hear a thank you somewhere in your silence" Sam hinted, he'd casually stuffed his hands into his pockets "Redwing wants to hear it too."

He held his wrist up showing the watch he used while out of the suit on recon missions.

"Should I be thanking you for stalking the girl, or tracking her down?"

"Technically you told me to track! Facial recognition software of possible targets and when the gun was pointed at her.."

So Sam had seen it through Redwing. He couldn't argue the fact, he had asked for tracking, so far neither Clint nor Wanda had approached Steve about what had happened and he wasn't sure whether they were saving it for T'Challa or not.

"Thanks then" Steve sighed when Sam gave him a hard, meaningful look "Thank you.. Redwing"

He cringed slightly at the name, he heard a small robotic bird noise from the watch. Luckily for Steve they had reached the meeting room before he had to acknowledge fully the bird noise and he pushed the door open letting Sam through and then entering himself.

The room was large and plush, and more of a lounge than a meeting room, T'Challa was all for fancy furniture with long white sofas in front of an open fire, warming the room even though it wasn't cold outside. T'Challa was sat around a ornate dining table talking quietly with Wanda who he appeared to have become quite enchanted with, even though she showed no interest him in.

"Ah, Steve Rogers" T'Challa had never taken to calling him Steve, no matter how many times he asked him to "Wanda and Clint were filling me in, but we're missing your crucial input."

Steve sat down in a chair while Sam dropped into another opposite, and watched as Steve laid the envelope on the table. Seeing as T'Challa hasn't mentioned it, he was sure that neither Wanda or Clint had either which was something he was grateful for.

"You have not opened it?" T'Challa asked as he got up and moved with feline precision over to Steve, sitting down in the chair next to him, even Clint had got up and moved closer. They were all crowded around his end of the table, looking at the envelope.

"I couldn't bring myself to do it." he admitted, shrugging his shoulders "We can open it now."

Sam picked the envelope up and held it up to the light, and then ripped the top off, pulling out a single small sheet of paper. Steve's heart dropped when he saw the sheet of paper.

"It says.. Siberia." Sam passed the piece around, all of them looking at the word "Do you think it's a hint or a trap, maybe it could be a truce"

A long discussion started and lasted for over an hour, about what it could mean, if they should go or if Tony had finally gone mad. Siberia had been where Bucky and him had fought against Tony and T'Challa had caught Zemo. Only they knew where the Nazi base had been and now there was civil unrest in the area, Steve couldn't help but think the two were connected. If Zemo managed to decipher the text released who was to say no one else had. Eventually they decided that they should go, but with their gear under their civilian clothes, should things go wrong.

"There's one more thing." Clint spoke up just as they were about to leave "The girl"

Steve hesitated, he was half way out of his seat before he sighed and sat back down awaiting a lecture. He knew Clint was doing what he thought right.

"Girl?" T'Challa's face was stern, he didn't want anyone to know where they were going, it would lead to questions and tagging which could lead them back to T'Challa. "What girl?"

"She was threatened by one of Carvers.. men." Steve admitted "Because I had been staring at her."

"Again with this name Carver, and now he has men.. This is sounding less like Stark and more like a set up" T'Challa sighed heavily. Sam raised his hand, as he was prone to doing in front of T'Challa

"I told you, you don't need to raise your hand" T'Challa sighed again and Wanda let out a small chuckle. 

"I got her name!" Sam exclaimed happily "And obviously everything that comes with tracking her. Address, workplace."

"She saw Steve" Wanda admitted and then looked apologetically at him, "He needs to know, if she's in danger or if she IS the danger.."

There were a few tense moments while they waited for T'Challa to decide on what would happen next. While he wasn't their leader, they owed him a great deal and respected his decisions when it came down to protecting them.

"Seeing as you caused this Mr Rogers, you can be the one to solve this." T'Challa was firm "Bring her here, we will sort out cover for her. Until we decide whether she is a threat."

This started a very short argument, that bringing her back was too much of a risk but it was argued that leaving her out there was a greater risk. Carver could go back for her and use her as a hostage to lure them out, where Steve went the others would follow and with a huge bounty on their heads, anyone would want to claim it.

When Steve retired to his room over an hour and a half after he had left it, he looked again at the piece of paper with her name on. He rubbed his face, sighing heavily and grabbed the pack off the back of his door. He tried to argue with himself that bringing her back was the right thing to do to protect them and in some small way he was glad too, as it would protect her.

It took an hour to fly back to England, another hour to drive back where they had been when all of this had started, back to the small town to find her semidetached house.

He inhaled deeply as he stood in front of the door, preparing to explain as he knocked. A dog barked loudly, and a voice desperately telling him to shush.

"Hello..." her voice trailed off as she opened the door and saw him standing there her eyes were wide, and her brown hair was pulled back into a bun. Steve cleared his throat.

"You're-" she stammered and her face flushed bright red "I won't t-tell anyone I saw you!"

She sounded panicked, and the dog behind her started barking, a black nose pushing against her knee trying to see who the intruder was.

"I'm sorry" He crossed his arms over his chest "You have to come with me."

He had a lot of explaining to do.

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

Sylvia had been distracting herself the first 10 minutes while they stood in the small kitchen, the sun had long set and the lights in her house were dim compared to what he was used to in T'Challa's brightly lit base. Her dog was still making small barking noises from behind the door.

"You have to take me?" She asked again, looking at Steve from over the rim of her mug. She'd offered him a cup of tea and coffee, both of which he had declined in acceptance of some water. His mug was decorated with small owls. She was turning the mug in her hands, eyes down cast.

"I've been.. ordered too" He finished lamely, he didn't want to let more out than needed. If there were bugs in her house or people watching, the less said, the better.

"Ordered.." She mumbled, finally setting the mug down on the side "I'm guessing it isn't Mr Stark.."

The whole world knew the story, Tony was supposed to be hunting them down and recapturing them and for the first week the whole world had been on watch for them. Now 2 weeks later, no one seemed to care as much, there were more important things to be worried about. Of course she knew who he was, what had happened, but instead of screaming or trying to call the police, she had accepted that Steve Roger's was standing in her house.

"No, it isn't" His voice sounded loud in the silence and he took a sip of water.

"Okay." Was all she said before the earpiece sprang to life

"Try to hurry this up Rogers" Clint's voice sounded bored, even though he'd been the one to insist he come along as cover for if things went south. "My legs are beginning to hurt"

Sylvia was looking at him again, from here he couldn't see what colour eyes she had, with a curious look on her face. Her arms crossed over her chest and she sighed, her gaze flicking over to the clock on the wall. She nodded once and moved towards him slowly, as if she were afraid of him hurting her and he passed over the bag he'd shown her when he had begun explaining why he was here.

"I don't suppose you have any friends far away you could say you're visiting" Steve suggested as she tentatively took bag from him. Their eyes met for a split second, too quick for Steve to see the colour before her gaze dropped to the floor.

"One.." She bit her lip, her voice filling with resolve "Give me ten minutes."

She left the room, speaking in a soothing voice to her dog who eventually stopped letting little barks out and the sounds of them moving upstairs echoed. He took this as a promising sign, she was coming peacefully, quietly, without any fuss. There had always been the possibility of her freaking, trying to call the police or refusing flat out. Not that they weren't prepared for that option, Clint had insisted that he bring a black bag to put over her head and a bunch of cable ties. There were better ways to restrain people but if worse came to worse, Clint had argued, they only needed to restrain her until they got to the van.

"Is she cuter close up?" Clint asked and Steve could hear him flexing his bow string

"Really?" Steve had to shake his head, he'd been trying not to think about her in any way other than a mission objective. Get her safely to T'Challa, let him make the decisions.. Try to keep the interactions to a minimum.

Before she got hurt.

"Yes Steve, really. If we ever get out of this problem, you should try dating again. Start with her" Clint meant well as he started up with the dating stuff again, so far everything in Steve's love life had been crappy. Him and Sharon had awkwardly broken it off with each other, he never got the chance to be with Peggy. Maybe while they were laying low he could being that preparation to date again.

Looking around the kitchen he noticed some dirty dishes, an impressive PC set-up that looked to be the most expensive thing in the room and a dog bed. He placed the mug on the counter, checking his watch for updates.

The door opened and she managed to squeeze through with the bag over her shoulder. She'd donned a zip up hoodie over her top and Steve spied it had the Avengers symbol sewn onto it, on her feet were a pair of sturdy grey high top trainers. He hadn't heard her coming back down the stairs, she was silent on her feet without a 4 legged companion.

"I just need to write a note" She smiled awkwardly at him "My mum will worry otherwise.."

She pulled paper from her pocket, she must have grabbed it from another room and a pen from one of the counter tops and spent 5 minutes writing. When she had finished she exhaled sadly, putting the pen down and looking back up at Steve, her eyes shining with tears. He felt terrible taking her from her life and family so they could decide whether she was a threat or even if she could become a hostage used to weaken them.

"On my six, suspicious vehicle turning onto the corner, Steve we gotta move buddy" Clint's voice was urgent, and he could hear him climbing down to the street. "Time's running out, we got about 5 minutes before it's on our tail."

"Come on" Steve tried to remain calm. He opened the door to her house, checking either way before stepping out. She nodded as if sensing the urgency, pulling the strap of the bag tighter as she followed Steve, locking the door behind her. She tried to move past him and he put a hand on her shoulder to stop her moving towards the street light. It was dark now and no one was on the street, they were concealed here by her front door. Her face flushed from the contact.

"I don't want them targeting my family" Her voice was quiet, watching a car approach and roll past harmlessly "They need to know I'm leaving with you."

"Girl's smart, I like it" Clint had appeared silently beside them, Sylvia put a hand on her heart looking shocked "She has a point. Vans down the street, you either make it that you want to leave, or we're kidnapping you."

She contemplated her options and she had only seconds to make an actual decision, one which could impact everything she had left behind. It couldn't have been easy on her, first a known fugitive shows up on her door, then another appears out the darkness and not only was her life at stake, but her families.

"Kidnapping would be good, they won't target my family but the neighbours might alert the police which would scare them off." She looked between Clint and Steve

"What about your note? If anyone see's your face.." Steve left it hanging in the air. She hadn't seemed to have thought about anyone seeing her face

"I don't suppose either of you have a black bag?" she grimaced slightly as she pulled the zip all the way up on her hoodie and then pulled her hair out of its loose bun before gathering her hair back up and tying it in a tight ponytail.

"Lucky for you, we" Clint was cut off as Steve glared hard at him "Okay, I was prepared for that situation, should you not be willing to come with us."

He handed her the black hood and she exchanged it with the pack she was carrying. Steve could see her mentally preparing for this, her eyes flicked to him as she held the hood with a ironic smile on her face

"You better move quick" she was lifting the hood up "I scream really loud."

Steve nodded and she slipped the hood over her head, Clint did the honour of binding her hands in front of her and then.. she began to yell.

Things moved quickly after that, Steve picked her up and threw her over his shoulder, Clint had his bow out with an arrow notched ready to release if they needed it. He nodded his head and Steve noted a black jeep that was trundling down the road, it must've been the vehicle Clint mentioned and even from here Steve could see it had no number plates. It picked up speed as the yells turned to screams of help. She hadn't been kidding when she said she screamed loud, both of them wincing as they ran for their cover van, complete with bullet proof glass, just shortly down the road. Steve could see people looking out their windows and some had their phones out further down and most likely they were recording them. They had purposefully come without civilian gear on with Clint in his full Hawkeye outfit. Better they see the escapee Avenger's kidnapping than two random people, purely for the fact that if anyone was after her, better they know who have her. Behind them the Jeep was speeding, its engine drowning out some of Sylvia's yells and the breaks screeched

"Steve hurry it, they're stopping!" Clint jumped on top of a nearby car, and took the chance to shoot a harmless arrow at the Jeep. Then he was back next to Steve, darting ahead with a burst of speed pulling the side door of the van open. He threw himself into the opening, dropping Sylvia onto a seat before Clint climbed into the van. The moment they entered the van, she stopped screaming and sat there with her chest rising and falling. Out on the street, masked men were approaching the van with guns raised.

"Well. Someone wants us!" Clint sounded cheerful, revving the van up before driving towards the men who dived out the way. Sylvia began trying to slam her knee between her wrists until the cable tie broke. Steve hadn't been expecting that and watch as she removed her hood, some of her hair had escaped her bun.

"Where did you learn that?" Steve nodded to the cable tie she was gripping onto

"Internet" He voice wobbled and he could see some tears at the corner of her eyes and respectfully looked away. They drove hard and fast from Sylvia's hometown, knowing the faster they drove the less likely they would be followed.  It took almost an hour to out drive their assailants.

*

20 minutes had passed since they have driven through a city called Plymouth, the sat-nav guiding them to a private helipad and it had been over an hour on the road. Clint had slowed down, having been checking the mirrors every 5 minutes for that black jeep.

Steve's phone buzzed once and he looked down to see a text from Natasha

**What the hell are you thinking!**

"I'm guessing Nat isn't happy" Clint said to Steve, who had hopped over the seat to sit next to him not long after they'd left. Both of them could hear Sylvia sniffing behind them and Steve passed back a tissue he'd pulled from the van's odd supply of tissues and, for some reason, haribo. There was a small "thanks" and the sound of her blowing her nose. He could only think of the headache this would be causing Tony.

"No, she isn't. Word obviously spreads fast." Steve pinched the bridge of his nose "She won't be the only one either"

"T'Challa wanted you to come here and get her, you came here, you got her." Clint was stubborn but he was right "You did a damn fine job of convincing people sweetheart"

Clint's comment was aimed at Sylvia and Steve turned to see her smiling a little bit

"I did say I could scream loud.. I just hope it was enough" Her hands were gripping each other on her knees "Nat is.. Natasha right? Black Widow"

"Damn right Kid." Clint grinned at her in the mirror "This is our stop"

Clint had taken a turn off the road they'd been on, showing an open field with a helicopter on it. At the sight of the van turning up, the blades began to turn slowly and the heavy sound of the engine filled the air.

"We're flying?" Sylvia's voice was small, a hint of fear and all previous energy gone "I-I can't fly"

Clint had already stopped the van and got out, leaving Steve and Sylvia in the van. She hadn't moved, her round face was white and it made her eyes stand out and he saw now they were a startling green, her hands shaking

"You've never flown before?" Steve felt stupid asking the question but she shook her head

"I-I can't" She started lamely and rung her hands "I.. I'm scared"

Clint came around and opened the side door, making Sylvia jump.

"Come-" He halted when he saw her face, stark white and terrified "Are you ok?"

"She's afraid of flying" Steve said softly as Sylvia shook her head.

Clint put his hand out to Sylvia, his face had softened as it did when he spoke of his children

"I promise you, I swear on my life, we'll be fine" Clint's voice was calm and reassuring, Sylvia's breathing slowed "We'll protect you, you got Steve the invincible man!"

Clint couldn't quite handle being a dad-figure for too long it seemed, it made Sylvia smile weakly and seemed to give her resolve to take his hand and move out the van. Steve met Sylvia and Clint just before they reached the helicopter, Sylvia having let go of Clint's hand seemed content in trying to crush her own. Clint jogged on ahead and jumped into heli, saying something to the pilot.

"Hey, you can do this." Steve fell into step beside her, desperate to touch her shoulder or hand to reassure her. She nodded her head a few times, her hands turning into fists.

"I trust you. You're the good guys after all" Her voice was small and she picked her pace up having steeled her nerves.

_We're the good guys, we just let thousands of innocent people die.._ Steve's thoughts echoed what Tony had said to him once. He watched her nervously approach the heli, the wind desperately pulling at her hair. Then Clint was there, pulling her up into the pit as her hair fell loose of its bun. It bounced down around her neck and the wind from the heli blew it all over, she turned to look after him with a small nervous smile on her face and he swallowed. He had to stay away, he reminded himself, he couldn't hurt again.


	3. Chapter 3

Sylvia had done really well so far, she'd found that once they were in the air, it wasn't as bad as she'd thought and had spent time watching the landscape below her full of glowing cities and towns and then long blackness. Clint had spent a lot of time talking to her as they had flown up to altitude asking her questions about her job and what pets she had. She'd spent time animatedly talking about her dog, Toby, with the same energy he had seen earlier.

When they landed, she seemed more comfortable with exiting the helicopter without much help from Steve or Clint. She was still smiling when they stood next to her, the sound of the helicopter blades slowing down filled the air, when she saw their faces hers dropped

"I'm supposed to be a prisoner, right?" She held her hands up, Clint nodding

"This is stupid, she's shown no resistance" Steve crossed his arms over his chest again as an ensemble of guards walked to meet them "She came willingly"

The guards either didn't hear him or didn't care, two of them gripped her upper arms and marched her not-unkindly down the path and into the base. There was no point in blindfolds, even Steve didn't know exactly where they were, whenever they returned it felt like the base had moved.

"They need to take precautions Steve" Clint's voice was quiet but firm. Steve could tell Clint wasn't too happy about this either.

They followed the guards down, down, down stairs and corridors until they reached part of the complex Steve felt was familiar. Stark white walls and silver doors leading to closed off rooms and cameras on every corner.

Interrogation rooms.

Sam and Wanda were waiting outside a room, guards positioned either side of the door. Sylvia was taken inside the room then the guards turned on them

"T'Challa would ask you take up the room there." One of them pointed at a room next to the chamber, obviously a viewing room and Steve grimaced

"I'm not a fan of torture.." Wanda sighed heavily as she entered the room and Steve rolled his shoulder, unsure about what they were going to witness.

A voice crackled to life and a window lit up. A two way mirror showing Sylvia sat in a chair and T'Challa sat opposite her with a small vial lying on the table.

"Do you know who I am?" T'Challa asked, his hands resting on the table in a relaxed manner.

"Black Panther.. T'Challa, King of Wakanda." Her cheeks flushed and she bit her lip "You wanted to take down the Winter Soldier."

T'Challa nodded, everything had been well broadcast over the last few weeks. It was a stupid question to ask her, of course she knew who he was.

"Who brought you here?"

"Clint Barton, the Hawkeye and" She faltered ""St-Steve Rogers.. Captain America."

"How do you know us?" T'Challa leaned back in his chair, fairly relaxed even though guards were around them waiting and ready to act on his command.

"You were all over TV for months. They made clothing, everything had your names on it." As she said this she flashed the Avenger symbol on her hoodie. "Well.. not your name yet"

She dropped her gaze, staring at her hands as they knotted themselves together. She recounted how she'd heard of them. How Iron Man had appeared, she remembered seeing the attack on New York on TV and how fan sites had popped up  and the internet had been ablaze with everything they did.

She blushed bright red and apologized for going on.

"Damn.. she's all read up" Sam was impressed

"I need you to understand why you're here.. Why you need to take this." T'Challa held the clear tube up, tipping its contents either way and the sluggish liquid moved from one end to the other.

He had pulled it from a pocket while she explained how she knew of them.

"I recognized him.." Her voice was quiet but they could hear it over the speakers clearly "Steve.."

She looked up and stared T'Challa in the face, like she was defeating some inner beast.

"I recognized Steve Rogers. I am a threat to your safety and whatever plan or plans you have or had in motion." She looked defiant  "And you don't know if you can believe me."

Everyone's attention was back on the tube in T'Challa's hands and in the silence that followed, Wanda and Sam quietly filled Steve and Clint on what was inside

"A truth serum" Sam let out a low whistle, rocking back and forth on his heels "Best way to find out"

"It's been tested once!" Wanda had her arms crossed

"Anything could go wrong" Clint sounded as pleased as Steve felt, his eyes dark with memories

Steve had been watching quietly as T'Challa offered the tube to Sylvia.

"This serum" T'Challa's voice was soft "If you take it, everything you know will be revealed. You cannot stop."

Sylvia let out a small sound of distress, possibly going over everything she knew in her head and battled with her choice. His hands turned into fists, he had never been one for torture but this was invasive, personal.

"This isn't right." Steve huffed and adjusted his position "It's morally wrong."

"It isn't if it's her own choice." Wanda said gently, resting a hand on his arm gentle to comfort him

"Everything.." Sylvia repeated and darted her hand out, the guards sprang on her quicker than expected, one twisted her arm painfully to the side causing Steve to jump forward and hit a fist against the two way mirror. It wobbled dangerously like it might crack. She yelled out in pain as the guard quickly pinned her to the table, arm twisted behind her but her eyes were drawn to the mirror, Sam was swearing loudly about how unfair that was.

"Stand. Down." T'Challa was livid and he stood as the guards instantly backed down "Leave."

He growled with predatory demand, his guards hesitated before leaving and closing the door behind them. Steve knew they'd get hell later for what they did, especially as T'Challa had been offering her the tube. She lay there for a few moments, tears running down her cheeks and over her nose her eyes fixed on the spot Steve had hit at.

"I'm sorry" T'Challa put the tube back down on the table and sat down rigid.

"You're a King" Her voice was that of someone who trying very hard not to cry "They were doing their job."

T'Challa nodded his head gravely, allowing her to pull herself together until she sat back up. He rolled the tube at her.

"I truly am sorry." T'Challa said softly as she stopped the tube and pulled the top off.

"I am as well" her voice was strangled, her breathing was uneven and vitals began to cover the window before them. They showed heartbeat and body temperature and Clint grunted

"All this in case something goes wrong" He spat angrily

She brought the bottle to her lips and slowly the liquid crept down the glass towards her lips. Seconds passed as the serum dripped into her mouth and she swallowed.

T'Challa seemed content in watching and waiting and Sylvia said nothing, wiping tears from her face. Nothing seemed different, T'Challa tried to make some small talk about how she had found the ride over.

After a few minutes of them all watching with their breath held, something in the room changed. Sylvia's face had gone blank, her position slack. T'Challa had leant forward and was watching Sylvia intently.

"What is your name" He asked and she leant forward to mimic him

"Sylvia Elizabeth Elser." Her tone was almost bland, lacking any sort of compassion or energy and from here Steve could just make out a glazed stare in her eyes. She placed her hands on the table

"How old are you?"

"I am 24 years old" Steve's heart was beating wildly against his chest, just what would they witness this serum do?

"Tell me about yourself." T'Challa's voice was full of curiosity but Sylvia remained quiet for a while and she slouched back into the chair. It was strange seeing someone so.. disconnected, everything she did was disjointed

"It's like her emotions have been blocked" Wanda was frowning, twisting hair around her finger.

Slowly Sylvia recounted things in the same empty voice, seemingly as the thoughts passed through her mind. She recited her height, the colour she liked and so on, how she hoped her dog was going to be alright while she wasn't there and then the awkward moment as she told T'Challa a number and a letter. He looked over at Sam and Clint who were both blushing, the number and letter meant nothing to him, but it meant something to them

"Really?" she scoffed  " Clint you're married! It's just a couple of number and letters!"

Sam said something quietly about how it was different when you knew what the sizes meant and Clint hit him in the arm. Steve felt a strange feeling in his chest, his mood heading south was wondering what the numbers could mean and how they had come up with the system.

"Someone visited my house today." Her voice rang crystal clear through the speakers "They asked for me. I wasn't in."

On the screen her heart rate spiked, her fists clenched on the table. She hadn't mentioned this at all to Steve or Clint, but it explained why she was eager to leave, eager to protect her family and make a scene. She hoped they'd know where she was because of that and leave her family alone.

"They left. Before I came back... After I'd seen Steve Rogers. My mum... She was scared for me, maybe I had" Her head tipped to the side "I had done something wrong."

Her mother..

"Why would you have done something wrong?" T'Challa asked, leaning back in his chair. The change in T'Challa's demeanour was clear from here, he had leant forwards and his position was rigid

"I saw Steve Rogers and that was wrong. He saw me and at first I was shocked then I waved. I was proud and stupid" She went quiet for a few moments

"She thought it was the police" her hands were white from being held so tightly by each other "I thought it might be S.H.I.E.L.D, hoped it was."

"At work they know things about me."

"What things?"

Sylvia cocked her head to the side, staring at T'Challa

 "What. Things" He demanded and the kingly tone came out in his voice

"I'm not dating anyone, that I haven't. They tease me endlessly about it. " Her hands released each other and she pushed her sleeves up absentmindedly.

Stunned silence. Clint let out a small surprised laugh.

Why did she think that was important? Why was it important to her? Steve couldn't help but wonder where this had come from, he was more concerned with what else they had said to her.

"I..." T'Challa seemed stunned from her previous statement, it wasn't something that was important to him "Are you working for anyone?"

"McDonalds'" The answer came with some emotion, but her voice was quiet and her face was slowly turning red as she seemed to realise what she had said exactly

"Anyone else?" T'Challa let his voice drop

"No"  her voice was small, she was staring at the table.

T'Challa got up, obviously satisfied with what information he had obtained but his face was grave. Behind him Sylvia had put her head into her arms against the table

"I'm sorry I had to do this." T'Challa had almost left the room when Sylvia raised her head slightly

"You're awful sorry for a lot of things.. sometimes it's better to trust your heart than go by those who hurt you in the past"

She put her head back into her arms and a flurry of older women flocked in from nowhere, their voices were soft as the mirror went blank, all sounds cut off. It took all of Steve's self control to not punch T'Challa as he entered the room, and from the looks of it Clint was restraining himself as well. Neither Sam or Wanda looked entirely happy with him either, their stares were hard.

"I didn't want to put her through it" T'Challa began before Steve snapped

"Then why did you? An untested serum?" His voice rose to a shout before he could stop it

"It was tested" T'Challa replied calmly, dusting the front of his white shirt off

"Once! You bet her information on a serum tested once" He clenched his fists and Sam moved in front of him. God he hadn't been this angry in a while. "She's an innocent!"

"C'mon Steve, let's go." Sam's voice was quiet as he put his hand on Steve shoulder and gripped it hard. Steve was breathing hard as they left the room, Wanda and Clint remained behind, most likely Clint would be filling him in on what had happened on the way back, regardless of how he was currently feeling, while Wanda would be scolding T'Challa and informing him on human decency.

The room Sylvia and T'Challa had been in was empty now as Steve marched past trying to ignore every instinct to go in there and throw a punch. Wherever they had taken her to he hoped deep down it wasn't a holding cell. He was still flexing his wrists when he realised where Sam had taken him.

"Really Sam?" Steve looked around at the gym

"We could go a few rounds" Sam was trying to smile and Steve exhaled, trying to calm down. "And if you break a few punching bags, T'Challa's paying"

He hadn't felt anger like this in a long time, physical exertion might help him calm and clear his head enough to talk to T'Challa without wanting to punch him in the face. Sam had grabbed some tape off the side and bound his hands up and took station in front of a bag and began rhythmically punching it.

He followed suit, wrapping tape around his hands and  began to work his frustration out  on the bag. He tried not to punch too hard, but memories flooded back and not just from tonight. The last few weeks had been hard what with Bucky going  back under until they could find a cure; Tony would have to arrest him on sight if he showed his face publicly and most of the population wanted him removed for good from the world. Sharon and him had ended everything, and while their kiss had been different, it felt too much like betraying the feelings he'd had for Peggy. It had come to a grinding halt when he and Sharon had met up and confronted him about things from Peggy's diaries, something he hadn't known she'd ever kept.

_"I can't do this Steve. I can't put myself through this" she had been tearful at first, and he only made her cry again when he admitted how awkward it felt for him, knowing that Peggy had held a candle for him after all the years she had been married._

_"I don't know who I liked, the Steve from the funeral, or the Steve I grew up hearing about"_

_She left not long after, having shoved the diary at his chest._

A crash brought him out of his reverie and a look at the floor told him that he'd broken another punching bag. Sam let out a chuckle

"You really were going hammer and tong at it." Sam was breathless from giving his own bag a battering.

"Yeah well.. He owed me" Steve unwrapped the tape from his hands to see small cuts on his knuckles, he hadn't taped them up well enough after all.

He was still staring at his knuckles breathing hard when the door to the training room opened and T'Challa stood there with all the air of a king.

"I would like to speak with Steve" T'Challa's tone was demanding  as he entered the room and Sam left quickly, saying something about a shower and gave Steve a nod to wish him luck. Sweat dripped down his face and T'Challa made no move towards him with Steve took as a sign that he wasn't about to whip out the vibranium claws. He saw T'Challa look down at the broken bag before focusing back on Steve

"Why were you looking at her?" T'Challa seemed interested, not mad that he had possibly risked an innocents life. More of a what's-going-on-in-your-head. 

"A gun was pulled on her" Steve tried to shrug it off like it was nothing "She didn't notice and I'd prefer it kept that way... She doesn't need that on her conscience."

T'Challa nodded but didn't move so Steve did, he'd walked past T'Challa and reached the door

"Why did she catch your eye" T'Challa's voice made Steve freeze.

He knew, of course he knew, Clint would've told him everything now Sylvia had revealed what she knew. He turned back to face T'Challa who still didn't look mad he looked.. sad. As if he understood what he was going through

“I can't explain” He could see her now and a small smile spread on his face. "It's probably the same for how you feel about Wanda."

Steve had noticed the way T'Challa smiled at her, how he spoke to her and changed around her but Wanda hadn't noticed. He had spoken to her a few times about what had happened between her and Vision, but she seemed reluctant to discuss whatever it was she felt. T'Challa cleared his throat clearly embarrassed and Steve could see his cheeks were darker.

“She has to stay in the medical wing for a few days at the least. The serum needs to run through her system." T'Challa resumed speaking as if Steve had said nothing, walked over to him and opened the door, gesturing he go through it

"As they realise we have her, taking her back will become more of a.." he searched for the right word "danger. Until we find out more about this Carver and whoever is after here, she will have to remain here."

T’challa and Steve made their way down the corridors, no one was around as per and the facility felt huge. His mind wandered as they wove their way down corridors, perhaps he could get Wanda to teach her some self defence, so she wouldn't be some vulnerable.  He stopped dead in the corridor when he read a sign saying Medical Wing. He hadn't visited the Medical Wing before and was unsurprised by the white walls that the entire facility had.

“Why are you doing this?” Steve was cautious

“I should beg forgiveness for my earlier grievances, having the guards in the room was a foolish move.” T’challa was still grave, possibly still undecided about their fate “I can protect myself well enough and scans showed she was unarmed.”

He gestured for them to keep moving towards the door that split the corridor up, he held one open for Steve to walk through

“I believe it will be good for you to see her.” He said as they continued.

They were passing conjoined rooms all of which were empty and dark, Steve could see the iv drips standing beside beds through the windows. One of the rooms was softly illuminated but T’challa led him into its conjoined room where computers tracked temperature, heart rate and a myriad of other things that meant nothing to Steve. Behind the computers a window looked into the room, inside was a mess of machines hooked up to Sylvia who was being attended by two women, their faces soft as they went about attaching wires and drew a syringe of blood from her elbow.

“There are no ill effects” T’challa’s voice was soft “we will monitor her through the night to ensure she is fine”

“Why the blood?” Steve found the words coming out of his mouth with a harsh tone.

“The serum shows in the blood, its vital to test how much is left in her system.”

The women were talking with her but unlike the interrogation room, there was no live feed and Steve suspected the window was another two way mirror. The room they were in was brightly lit and they would’ve noticed Steve and T’challa standing there by now.  Sylvia was smiling and nodding at whatever the women were saying and was engaged in the conversation, every so often though her eyes would go distant and her mouth would open and say something before she jerked back to the women touching her shoulders.

One of them left the room and moments later entered where they were, Steve’s gaze transfixed on Sylvia. Her hoodie had been removed at some point and hung on the back of the door its golden Avengers symbol glinted in the light and he could see the pink marks that dotted her forearms and elbows. There was quite talk between T’challa and the woman, none of which Steve understood but he turned from the window to see T’challa embracing the woman and mumbling wakandan. He was smiling sadly as she left the room

“My stepmother..” He said softly and Steve raised his eyebrows. They’d been at the facility for two weeks and T’challa had never mentioned her before

“She had been grieving” he answered Steve’s unasked question and looked over Steve’s shoulder into the room behind him “they are going to give her something to help her sleep. She worries that the girl will become distressed if keeps saying things she doesn’t mean”

He turned to watch as a needle pricked into her arm and Sylvia’s face wince. The other woman left the room dimming the lights and T’challa’s stepmother remained, stroking Sylvia’s hair as she lay back on the bed and talking to her in what he imagined was the same soft voice she had used in the room. Slowly Sylvia’s eyes closed as the drug took over and T’challa excused himself, a phone vibrating in one of his pockets. She looked peaceful, Steve thought as all around him the computers screens changed to match her heart rate, a slow even beat. For a while he watched her sleeping, trying to figure out the surge of emotions that had risen in the last few hours.

It was late when he left the room and returned to his own residence, falling into a dreamless sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Sylvia had been having a very positive day, she reflected as she lay on the bed staring up at the white ceiling the next morning. She'd gone out and met up with two friends, Vicky and Curtis, had a drink in a cafe and even seen a movie. She normally spent a day off at home on her computer watching Game of Thrones or re-watching old series of anime she'd watched as a kid and sinking hours into one of the Korean mmo's that was all the rage. It'd been going very well indeed until she saw him.

Steve Rogers. Captain America.

She'd only noticed him because in a momentary lapse of conversation she'd looked around, her eyes drawn as he'd removed his sunglasses. She realised then he'd been looking at her.

She'd been surprised to see him there, it was strange to see him in a remote town looking frustrated and desperate. She had raised her hand a little to wave, a small gesture to let him know not everyone hated his guts.

"Who're you waving at?" Vicky asked "Cute guy? Cute guy with an awesome butt?"

Sylvia looked away with a grin on her face

"Cute guy with an awesome butt" She confirmed making Vicky laugh. It'd been an inside joke they'd started at work one day when it was quiet, rating guys and their butts but had since started taking place outside of work whenever they went places. She knew the precarious position some of the Avengers were in, and didn't mention it had been Captain America.

"You heard about Stark right?" Curtis was flipping a coin repeatedly, "They decided to give him, the Spider guy and the panther king a pass for bringing in the Demo guy"

"Oh my god, it's Spider-man and Black Panther. The bad guy is Zemo" Sylvia rolled her eyes and Vicky grinned wickedly

"She'd know, all she does is read fanfic about them making out" Vicky shot Sylvia a wicked smile, making Sylvia roll her eyes. 

"You'd know all about that" Sylvia mumbled as she sipped her iced tea.

After that she'd gone home happily, one of the Avenger's had been in her town unbeknownst to everyone around her, not that anyone would ever believe her. When she got home, she found her mum nervously waiting near the door as she came in

"Where have you been?!" Her mum was frantic "The police were here, asking for you"

Her heart missed a beat. The police? She went past her mum, scratching Toby on the head as he bounced around her legs and flicked her pc on. She ran through every possible theory as to why they'd be here, maybe they'd got a tip off about one of the dealer that worked with her or maybe.. she hadn't been the only one to see one of the Avengers.

"The pc? Now? Sylvia this is serious, are you in trouble?" Her mum sounded worried, possibly thinking she had started doing drugs like some of the people at work

"I'm not in trouble, honestly mum" Shakily she waited for her pc to warm up, desperate to know if anyone else had spotted the Avengers, although she wasn't sure why'd the police would track her down specifically, there would be camera footage of everyone who had been in town that day, narrowing it down to who might have seen them. It might be a national security thing, if Steve was here no doubt the other had been close by and they were criminals supposedly.

"Did you ask why they were here?" She asked, spinning her chair to face her mum who was making a cup of tea, something she did when she was nervous.

"They asked for you. Specifically you. All in black and flashed these badges at me." Her mum was pouring water into the cup and finally the pc was on. She turned back and began rapidly typing into Google, looking for anything in the last  3-4 hours when she had seen Steve Rogers.

Results showed up from over a week ago when they had been supposedly spotted in Russia. She sighed and turned back to her mum

"I'm not in trouble, maybe it was a mistake?" She tried to sound confident. Maybe S.H.I.E.L.D agents wanted her to sign her silence. Whoever was here they'd scared her mum pretty badly.

"Hey maybe they wanted to hire me" She tried to joke and her mum sighed, shaking her head and mumbling something about Sylvia needing to act like an adult.

After her mum had gone into the lounge with Toby, she'd spent time staring at the screen hoping whoever it was wouldn't come back. Not long after someone had rang for her mum to go back to work and she'd left Sylvia alone with her thoughts.

A knock had caused Toby to bark like mad and then there he was again.

Captain America.

Steve Rogers.

Things moved fast after that, she had to protect her mum, if anyone was following her like Steve.. no, like Captain America thought then she had to make sure they knew she'd left. She was suddenly glad her mother hadn't been following the Avengers closely like everyone else in the world.

The less she knew, the better.

Hawkeye was here with him, of he would be. He was witty but agreed with her about causing a scene, neither of them asked why she needed to protect her mum and for that she was grateful. What would they do if they knew someone had been here asking for her?

The next few minutes were a blur, she couldn't see anything under the hood but her hearing heightened. The sound of a car breaking, Clint shouting, dull thuds and then being dropped onto a soft seat. The hood was gone and she vaguely remembered something about breaking cable ties, she slammed her joined wrists over her knee and the cable tie came loose slowly.

Nothing felt real after that, Steve asking where she learnt it, the quiet moment where she allowed tears to fall as her emotions caught up with her.

She'd never flown before and there was a helicopter, her first flight was a whirl of emotions. The fear of it crashing, of dying, what would her mother think when she returned home to find her oldest daughter gone.

Then the world she knew dropped away, a facility hidden in a jungle.

Guards marching her like a prisoner.

Maybe she should've been one, she already knew too much. The moment she was taken into a room with Black Panther, a brief introduction to the King of Wakanda, T'Challa. Her phone confiscated.

The painful moment that followed not long after, being pinned to the table for just reaching across. It only confirmed what she suspected when the mirror on her left rattled dangerously. Of course they'd be watching, the girl who knew too much and nothing at all. The pain was unbearable, even when they had retreated from the room her body sang in pain.

Composed she took the serum, and everything stopped. All the pain, the worry, the fear and strange feeling in her stomach.

Gone.

The questions never seemed daunting, they were easy to answer. Everything came easily. No answer felt wrong. At some point it wore off, slowly, every feeling came back in, the panic returned along with something that the serum had allowed her to explore from a distance while she answered the questions. Something she felt for Steve.

When the older women had swooped in and spoken softly, she allowed herself to be guided wherever. She'd crushed on Thor since he appeared, some mythical god who the girls swooned over.

She hadn't contemplated the way Steve had been looking at her, some kind of desperation for her to notice him.

No one had ever looked at her like that before, she thought as the women left leaving two behind, what made her so different?

They showed her a door in the side of the wall, a bathroom and let her use the facilities.

They asked her questions about her life, what she liked to eat, her favourite colour. She'd been answering questions with the same emptiness she had when T'Challa had been asking. It was distressing, she started hating the serum and the way it made her answer. Eventually she asked when it would stop.

They'd taken blood and given her something to help her sleep.

She awoke in the morning with the sun streaming through the window from the corridor. What she saw startled her, she hadn't considered it last night and the dark did a good job of masking everything beyond the reach of lights.

Enchanted she slipped out of the bed and opened the door to the room. No one was stationed outside, so perhaps she wasn't a prisoner. The sunlight warmed her as she stood in front of the large windows, taking in the jungle and lake spread before her. Eventually she sank onto the floor, rested her head against the window watching the jungle.

She'd sat there staring out, not quite believing where she was or what had happened in the last 12 hours.

Nothing would ever be the same.

She sat there staring out as clouds rolled across the sky, she could only imagine the sounds of the jungle from below. The glass was cool against her forehead and her breath fogging as she lay her face against it, relishing the silence that surrounded her.

She might’ve sat like that for hours, quietly resting her head against the glass had it not been for Sam, Falcon, coming out of nowhere

“I hear you play video games” he nodded his head, as if an entire conversation had been happening without her knowledge

“Yeah…” She peeled herself away from the glass, fingers and forehead numb from the cold

Sam grinned and clapped her on the shoulder like an old friend, guiding her into a lounge at the end of the hall way. Large curtains covered the windows blocking the light out and she went over and carefully pulled it back, shuddering at the velvet that the curtain was made of.

Checking it was all real.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I haven't updated in a while! went through some rewrites of future chapters and tried to decide where I wanted this fic to go. This is just a small chapter from Sylvia's view, I have a whole week off from work so I'm gunna add some more on the weekend


	5. Chapter 5

Steve had awoken at midday, tangled in sheets and wasn’t surprised to see his knuckles were bruised from last night. He had just finished putting clean clothes on when there was a knock at his door

“Wake up old man” Nat opened the door tapping her foot impatiently “we’ve been waiting for you”

“Nice to see you as well Nat” Steve shook his head setting his blonde hair tidily “remind me, how did you escape Ross again?”

Nat made a haha sound as Steve joined her in the hall. It had been a week since Nat had left the Avengers compound, unsurprisingly she had out witted all of ross’ men who had arrived to take her custody.

“Tony was very helpful in that department, as the accords don’t actually let him do anything without consent from the 117 countries” Nat pushed a stray hair behind her ear “Ross was demanding his help as I knocked out his men”

Steve could see in his head the scene, Tony looking at it from his balcony sipping one of his strange health drinks while dodging bullets and listing off numbers of how much Ross owed Tony for the damage.

“Im guessing T’challa has apologised?” Steve was grinning at her

“Oh he apologised alright, commending me on my belief in my friends. Of course Ross is still after me” Nat shrugged and opened a door on the right

“So he finally awakens!” Clint was grinning ear to ear “have a busy night?”

Steve felt himself go red and cleared his throat to say something before Nat grabbed Clint’s ear

“What did I tell you?” Her voice was sweet and Clint mumbled something about telling his wife, looking slightly ashamed

Although it felt like he was whole again, Tony’s smart comments were missing, Vision with his inability to understand human emotion sometimes and Rhodey, cool level headed Rhodey. There wasn’t anything like the banter that had happened in the compound but things had changed and even if the laughter was genuine it lacked what they all missed.

“Don’t think you got away scot-free either Rogers” Nat had let go of Clint’s ear and crossed her arms over her chest, her foot tapping impatiently against the carpet

“Whose idea was it?” Wanda asked as she took a sip from her mug, looking between Clint and Steve. This was obviously turning into a debriefing session

“Hers.” Both said at the same time, Steve cleared his throat and motioned for Clint to carry on

“She was worried her family would be targeted, no doubt whoever was following knows we have her, but hopefully the rest of the world is only aware we were running away, possibly with you”

At that Clint flipped the screen up from his phone showing footage of the news, the subtitle “Captain America and Hawkeye rescue Black Widow!”

Steve allowed a sigh of relief escape, they hadn’t guessed it was Sylvia, not even saying it was kidnapping. He thanked his lucky stars that the pictures of them were of a low quality. The banner changed to say it was suspected they were hiding in the bottom end of England and police were investigating any possible hideouts.

Nat sighed and rolled her shoulders like she wanted the punch the pair of them for being so reckless but also there a small look of amusement on her face, she was clearly impressed by the idea Sylvia had come up with.

"I'm going to have to meet her then" Nat's smile was tense and she rolled her shoulders again and excused herself to work her frustration out on a punching bag. Clint was biting his lip hard and Steve could only imagine what he wanted to say. Nat ignored him and beckoned for Wanda to join her

"This early?" Wanda held her mug up but Nat's face made her sigh

"Fine, I could do with some more training." Wanda admitted and left with Nat, both of them talking strategy for rolling over a table.

Wanda had been trying to add to her arsenal, it wouldn't always be possible for her to use her powers and sometimes it would be safer to disarm someone than try to reflect their bullets. He was proud that Wanda was accepting she couldn't always rely on her powers, he'd watched a few sessions with Sam and she learnt quickly, even if Nat had kicked Sam in the balls once while demonstrating a move.

Sam excused himself as well, something about a video game fix which left Steve and Clint alone in the room.

"Did you go to see her last night?" Clint had that protective dad tone in his voice, he closed the screen that was showing the news  and put the phone back in his pocket. He turned back to face Steve, his face was set firmly into a frown.

"T'Challa took me to see she was okay, part of an apology." Steve sat down heavily and felt overwhelmed

"Is she?" Clint was giving Steve a strange look, half angry dad half understanding

"she's fine, they uh.." He ran a hand through his hair, something he hardly he did "They knocked her out, the serum was causing her mental state to spiral into stress. She couldn't stop admitting things to the women who were tending to her."

Steve decided to leave out the part about T'Challa's stepmother, it wasn't his place to mention it.  Clint nodded and they fell back into silence as he checked his watch.

"Time to keep my promise for water skiing" Clint got up as well with a smile on his face. It'd be the first time in a few weeks since they became criminals that he'd see his kids.  

"Don't hurt yourself." Steve waved his hand and Clint came around and gave Steve a reassuring pat on the shoulder

"Don't spend the rest of your life in here contemplating the fate of the world, ok buddy?" Clint left the room and Steve was finally alone with his thoughts. He put his head in his hands, watching the points of light that burst behind his eyelids as he placed pressure there.

He was trying and failing not to think of Sylvia, not to think of Tony who could be arrested at a moment's notice or Sharon with her broken heart, of Rhodey whose legs no longer work because of the risks he took to get Bucky to safety.

Of Bucky.

His best friend, currently in his refrozen state, the fact that Bucky might've been wrong about the other winter soldiers. He desperately wanted to wake Bucky up, ask for his advice on what to do. He'd gone through so much in the last few years to get back the Bucky he knew, it felt like now it was for nothing. They'd created a monster out of his best friend and a few words could have him raising hell. Again.

He'd lost everyone he'd every cared for.

He'd lost so much he wasn't prepared to lose Sylvia too, she wasn't his to lose.

He sensed that someone was standing there, hearing them breath softly.

“T’challa” Steve didn’t move from his position, content with patterns on his eyelids dancing.

He didn’t say anything to him and Steve could only imagine that T’challa was stood in the doorway watching him, waiting for Steve to look up. _Let her be okay, let her be okay_

"Come, she is awake."

Steve didn't want to move. How could he when he was still unsure of how he felt, maybe he shouldn't even be feeling this way. If she hadn't looked up, he could've left and thought of her in passing, or maybe approached her differently that he'd had to. Finally he removed his hands and the patterns that had danced in darkness now danced in the blinding light. His eyes adjusted as he got up from the table and looked at T'Challa. He seemed as indifferent as he had last night, wearing the same shirt from last night but now it was crumpled and his face showed exhaustion. He didn't feel up to asking what T'Challa had been doing, T'Challa had his own demons as Steve had his.

They were passing empty rooms, he could see they were all the same white as the walls outside now sunlight shone through the windows that lined the corridor. One held the black bag Sylvia had given to Clint, some of its contents were strewn across the bed. When they reached the end of the hall T’challa opened the last door to reveal a lounge area with plush sofas and a huge tv, windows covered the right side. The tv was on and he recognised Sam’s form highlighted by the glare what he didn’t expect was Sylvia, game controller in hand

“Watch it, on your 6 two demons” Sam seemed to be tutoring her through the game

“Which 6?” Her voice was clear, the screen showed a wildly moving character

“Not that 6! Your other 6!” Sam was pointing at the left side of the screen, her character was facing the right. Two large black things loomed and with two swift strikes the character fell down

“Why are there two 6s?!” Sylvia shoved Sam as the game over screen flashed up.

“In my defence you asked _which_ 6!”

Something tugged at Steve’s gut and he realised jealousy was rearing its ugly head. He tried to tamp it down, reminding himself she was free to shove whoever she wanted. Sam was laughing and turned to say something to her when he spotted them

“Hey Cap” Sam nodded his head and then saluted towards T'Challa “My liege!”

Sam started up conversation with T’Challa, something about a new video game he wanted. Sylvia had sat up straighter before slowly turning herself to face them. He wished the sun would go in, it highlighted the edges of her hair like a halo. She was beautiful, he thought before dashing it away. He couldn’t let himself think like that. He cleared his throat, looking towards Sam and T’Challa who were still engaged over talks about the game Sam wanted.

“I should’ve realised from your pc set up you liked to game” He tried to sound nonchalant, hands sliding effortlessly into his pockets and cursed himself inwardly for now being able to pull it off.

“Yeah, pc games mostly over consoles” She smiled and Sam piped up something about Pc master race.

She put the controller on the arm on the sofa as Sam got up and followed T’challa out, begging him for this new game. She turned her back to Steve and stared out the window, the sun was still blazing in the window.

“I didn’t realise we were in the jungle until this morning” She sounded enchanted. Part of him itched to go around and sit beside her.

“Id never left England until last night”

There was a small silence, Sylvia turned back, picking up the game controller again before

“Sam says you play” Sylvia was smiling,

He nodded as she offered him the controller. He’d played a few games with Sam before, he hadn't been half bad but this felt different, more intimate. She looked more relaxed than she had done at any other point, the video game seemed to be taking an edge off from her fear so he came forward and took the controller, trying to ignore the bolt of electricity that ran up his arm as their fingers brushed.

“I hate static” she mumbled, shaking her arm as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened.

For a while they sat together, Steve going through the beginning part of the game again. Apparently it had few saving locations and they had been close to a newer one when she died.

“Is the point of this game to die?” Steve asked after his second death, having not played this before with Sam. It was rather frustrating having everything disappear each time you died. The only positive was more potions.

“Its for skilled players, the tougher it is the more elation you get when you complete harder parts” Sylvia had leant back against the sofa, watching the screen with rapt attention her fingers drummed against her thighs in time to the music

“On your left, the two demons” she sat up like a shot and pointed “this is where Sam screwed me over”

And then she seemed to realise what she had said and bit down on her lip as Steve laughed.

“You can call us our names” he suggested, after she had apologised and the demons were defeated. She was smiling again, at him.

“It feels too.. Personal. I know who you are and what you do but you don’t even know who I am” She unzipped the same  hoodie she had been wearing the night before and slipped it off “I didn’t want to offend you”

She rubbed her hands up and down her arms, Steve glanced over and saw her forearms were peppered with fading pink marks. He put his concentration back into the game, being polite enough not to ask or say anything.

“They aren’t burn marks” Sylvia said softly as if reading his mind, out of the corner his eyes he could see her  concentrating on her knees “They’re scars from..”

She bit her lip, taking a deep breath before she launched herself into an explanation

“I used to get stressed a lot” she began before pointing to the right side of the screen, the character hadn’t budged in the last minute and skeletons were ambling their way over “I got sick for a while, lack of sleep and not eating properly but mostly these” she gestured at the scars on her arms “they’re from a skin condition caused by stress, caused my body to freak out and create more skin cells than needed but only in certain places and thus I was left with these..." Her voice trailed off and apologised again quietly into the silence

He pressed the button Sam had told him was the pause button and turned to face her, controller in hand. She flushed a little and her eyes were trying to avoid his but eventually she looked at him and he could see now there was a small rim of orange around the pupil.

“You sound like you’ve said that before” He noted her tone had been consistent as if she were repeating a scripted line for the thousandth time. She laughed slightly and her hands attached themselves together

“When you work with the public and new people, you find yourself repeating things to avoid rumours” she smiled weakly before she backtracked “Im sorry to have just dumped that on you.”

Steve noticed she seemed to apologise a lot and felt it wasn’t just because of who he was, more of an instant reflex from times when she said too much or wasn’t heard. It pained him to see this, knowing there were others like her who apologised for things that weren’t their fault.

"You said we don't know you, well.. I know you a little better now" Steve replied and she looked away, back at the TV

He finally un-paused the game only to see a game over screen, which cracked Sylvia up enough to have tears run down her cheeks. Steve wasn't entirely sure what had happened to kill the character, Sam had said it was a pausing button

“Lesson one, you cant pause this game” she was smiling again, stood up and moved in front of Steve, her hand held flat. At first he was confused and put his hand on top of hers, his fingers could feel her pulse fluttering beneath her skin and her fingers brushed his palm. Sylvia blushed but she cleared her throat

“I actually just wanted the controller to turn it off” her voice broke slightly and Steve, feeling his ears go red, stood quickly passing the controller to her other hand. He didn’t want to move his hand, the electricity pulsed through him and instinctively he started to lean down. Sylvia jumped backwards as the screen behind them played loud music and Steve’s sense flooded back.

She turned away, red-faced, quickly inputting button presses that made the screen go black before turning back to face Steve.

"I.. I uh" She stammered, slightly breathless as she took a step towards him, back to where she had been before and stretched herself up. Steve had froze, staring down at her and she up at him. Carefully, she raised a hand to touch his cheek and her touch seemed to set his skin on fire.

“There is some green there..” She murmured, her voice vaguely empty and quickly leant up her lips pressing against his cheek and the electricity bolted through him “Thank you, for saving me”

She darted past Steve and the door closed behind her. Silence enveloped Steve. It wasn't as if he hadn't had his cheek kissed before by woman he had saved and even a few guys.

Tony had told him it was common, all the heroes get kissed on the cheek when they saved someone. He battled with emotions his while going over what she had said to him before leaving.

_There is some green in the blue of your eyes_

Zemo had said that to him and it echoed in what Sylvia had said, but while Zemo’s was tinged with hate, Sylvia’s was more surprised.

He stood there for a few more minutes, no doubt somewhere in here a camera had picked up what had just happened but for now he would be content, his skin still tingled from her touch.


End file.
